1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to fire extinguishing systems covering several zones of protection and utilizing an extinguishing agent such as Halon.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Prior fire protection systems have included means for detecting a fire in one of several protected areas and selectively directing a fire extinguishing medium such as chemicals and water to that area. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,477. Another fire extinguishing system incorporates a timer for directing periodic discharge of an extinguishing agent into a plurality of zones as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,722. Still another extinguishing system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,687 wherein a plurality of discharge nozzles are individually controlled by individual heat and smoke detectors. U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,192 utilizes an optical scanning system and directs an extinguishing agent from a restricted source to a number of discharge nozzles in the system.
This invention utilizes a plurality of unique selector valves which divide the system into zones and which in turn are actuated by sensing devices in the zones so that the fire extinguishing agent supply need only supply the capacity for one protected zone in the system rather than have capacity for the entire system.